West Ham United push ahead with Joel Matip transfer after new developments
West Ham United are pushing ahead in their talks to sign free-agent defender Joel Matip, according to ExWHUEmployee.
The Hammers souce reported on 3 September that the club remain keen on adding an out-of-contract defender to bolster Julen Lopetegui’s squad, with ex-Liverpool veteran Matip top of the agenda.
Matip left Anfield at the end of last season, and concerns over his recent injury record will need to be quashed before anything becomes official, with John Egan an alternative.
West Ham United still active in the transfer window
A summer of mass change and huge squad upheaval still doesn’t appear to be over in East London, with the pursuit of Matip showing there is still work to do to give Lopetegui the squad he wants.
Two centre-backs have been brought through the London Stadium doors, with no expense spared on Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo, but three first-team centre-halves have also gone the other way.
Thilo Kehrer completing a permanent exit to Monaco was one of the Irons’ first pieces of transfer business this summer, with Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd departing right at the end of the window.
The latter duo may only have departed on initial loans but both deals look set to become permanent at the end of the season, with Todibo’s move on a loan-to-buy deal from OGC Nice likely to go the same way.
However, with room for another centre-back on the books, the Irons’ pursuit of Matip, or Egan as an alternative, gives Lopetegui yet another option in his bid to get the Hammers back into Europe.
In other West Ham news, a supercomputer has predicted the Hammers’ end-of-season position in the Premier League table.
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